I've been listening to Ben Bova novels while I renovate my house, drive, or sometimes write code (apparantly, the "code" part of my brain is separate from the "story" part - someone can tell me why if they know.)

In short, I find them to be very compelling in the same way TOS Star Trek is - they are unabashedly optimistic about technology and science, have emotional characters interacting in some interesting ways, and really give the feeling of being in space. The one's I've enjoyed most are: